


River Styx

by MercuryMuse



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo (BTHB) [4]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Brain Damage, But it features all the siblings!, CPR, Features the Hargreeves fam at the Commission, Gen, Hurt Number Five | The Boy, In which Five gets shot and deals with the consequences, Number Five | The Boy Gets A Hug, Number Five | The Boy Has Issues, Number Five | The Boy Needs A Hug, Number Five | The Boy Whump, Number Five | The Boy-centric, Temporary Character Death, no beta we die like ben
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-12 05:48:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29879979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MercuryMuse/pseuds/MercuryMuse
Summary: Five finds out the hard way that rewinding time is not without its consequences, and succumbs to his injuries, dying alone while in search of a briefcase to take them back home. Thankfully his siblings aren’t going to let him go without a fight, even if that means calling upon the help of the Commission in the process.
Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo (BTHB) [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2192187
Comments: 17
Kudos: 99





	1. The water of Styx

**Author's Note:**

> "Swear it to me on Styx' ineluctable water. With one hand take hold of the prospering earth, with the other take hold of the shining salt sea, so that all the undergods who gather about Kronos may be witnesses to us" Homer, Iliad 14. 271.
> 
> To be completely honest, this started out as a small 3k oneshot but things got a little out of hand and I had to split it across two chapters. But anyway, I hope that you like this! 😊
> 
> -
> 
> Bad Things Happen Bingo (BTHB): CPR

Five Hargreeves dies at the mental age of fifty-eight and the physical age of thirteen.

He wished he could have said that the whole ordeal was quick and painless, but he would be lying. Instead, it was quite possibly the worst pain he’d ever experienced in his rather eventual life so far.

The Handler, for all her bellicose nature and penchant for power, had her rare moments of good advice. One of his earliest memories of the woman was her stressing that to succeed in any endeavour, a fear of death would do nothing but make you hesitate, and therefore vulnerable to attack. And while it probably wasn’t healthy to live life constantly on alert, the piece of advice had managed to get him through many sticky situations.

But now, laying on the snow-cold grass and choking on his blood; there was only one thought swimming around his head.

He didn’t want to die.

He _really_ didn’t want to die.

You see, he wasn’t a stupid man; he knew he had cheated death on numerous occasions.

At twenty he survived falling into a sinkhole; sure, it left him with a shattered femur, but he was still alive and (figuratively) kicking at the end of it. When he was forty-three he developed sepsis from an infected wound, spending the following week in and out of consciousness. Not to mention when he was fifty and accidentally set fire to his shelter, resulting in second degree burns up his left arm. That certainly wasn’t his finest hour.

Thinking about it, maybe those past brushes with death had made him complacent. He was naïve to think that turning back time would be without its consequences.

He tried to sit up but his head was hazy and his movements uncoordinated. But that was the least of his problems when he was currently drowning in his own blood. His chest and stomach were aflame with the phantom pain of gunshots, and his lungs were struggling to take in air through the fluid collecting in them.

His eyes were prickling with hot tears.

He supposed that it was rather symbolic in a way; he was alone in the apocalypse, and now he was going to be alone in his death.

Fan- _fucking-_ tastic.

His hands instinctively clawed at the collar of his shirt, his chest heaving with effort as he tried to suck in air he couldn’t take. He tried to pull at his powers which spluttered weakly in his rapidly deteriorating state. He opened his mouth to shout for his family, but he couldn’t form words through the blood frothing in his mouth.

He didn’t want to die alone.

He didn’t want to die

He didn’t –

* * *

  
  
“How is he?”

Sissy exhaled softly and glanced up at her from the bed, her left hand gently smoothing the stray hair away from Harlan’s forehead. For the first time in a while, the boy looked peaceful, for which Vanya was grateful for. She crossed the room and lowered herself down on the mattress, watching the steady rise and fall of his chest as he slept peacefully.

“He’s fine now” Sissy said with a hint of a smile on her lips. “I…Thank you…you know…”

“You shouldn’t be thanking me” Vanya said, her stomach churning with guilt. It made her feel nauseous. “I was the one who caused all this trouble. If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t be in this situation” 

Sissy pursed her lips thoughtfully and cast her gaze around the room. The walls were dotted with bullet holes and there were chunks of plaster missing from the substrate. Framed family photographs and Harlan’s drawings littered the floor, and the ones that had remained on the walls were hanging wonkily.

It was in a dire state, but then, this was one of the lesser affected rooms.

“I know that” Sissy murmured. She reached across the space between them and cupped her face in her hands, and Vanya couldn’t help but lean into the touch. Her hands were warm and soft. “But then, without all of this, I wouldn’t have met you”

“You’re a real sap you know that right?” Vanya said with a smile. Sissy snorted quietly and leant in to kiss her forehead, her nose, and then pressed a lingering one against her mouth, her slim fingers sliding back into her hair. And when she pulled away, her eyes were glassy with unshed tears. “Do you have to leave? You could all stay here for a while; I know the house isn’t in the best condition, but I can sort something out”

“I’d love to…” Vanya said hesitantly, and she really did. In an ideal situation, Sissy and Harlan would join them back in 2019. But despite how much it pained her, she knew that Five was right, they couldn’t impact the timeline like that. “But I can’t. I have to go back with my family…I…”

“I know. It’s okay” Sissy whispered with nothing but understanding. “But if you find a way to visit me, you take it, okay?”

Vanya nodded numbly as her heart constricted painfully. Her eyes lingered on Sissy’s face, committing it to memory; her earnest eyes, the soft sweep of her nose, the gentle curve of her lips. She couldn’t help but feel that after a functioning briefcase had been found, that this would be the last time she’d see her.

The saudade atmosphere of the room was abruptly interrupted by the sound of a door slamming, which rattled the weakened walls of the house. It was swiftly followed by the muffled sound of urgent yelling, although she couldn’t quite decipher what they were saying.

She glanced down at Harlan, who was thankfully still sleeping.

“Do you think everything is okay?” Sissy queried, a hint of fear on her face. 

“I’m sure it’s fine” Vanya reassured as she crossed the room. “But just stay here and keep an eye on Harlan, just in case”

The yelling was louder in the corridor, and Vanya realised with panic that it belonged to Klaus who was shouting their names. And of all the things she expected when she stumbled across the threshold of the living room, it certainly wasn’t the limp form of Five draped across Klaus’ spindly arms.

“I don’t know what happened, I just found him” Klaus rambled with fright.

He kicked some of the debris out of the way and carefully laid him down on the rug, and a wave of coldness washed over her when she got a better look at him. His skin, which was usually olive-toned, held a sickly pallor, and his blood-speckled lips were alarmingly blue. His eyes were open, staring unseeingly up at the ceiling.

She hadn’t realised she’d frozen in shock until she felt the others brush past her into the room. Allison dropped to her knees and pressed her fingers against the underside of his jaw, her lips pressed into a tight line. “He’s freezing cold. Where did you find him?”

“Just out on the farm, over by the chicken sheds” Klaus waved a hand vaguely towards the field, “I just popped out to see if he’d found a briefcase yet, and I found him like this”

“There’s no pulse,” Allison said, shakily withdrawing her hand.

“Get out the way” Diego hissed as he shouldered his way through them. He dropped down beside Allison, and with a kind of seriousness Vanya hadn’t seen in him before, placed his interlocked hands down firmly over Five’s breastbone. “Right, Allison, tilt his head back and make sure his airways are clear. I’m going to chest compressions; tell me when he takes a breath”

Allison swallowed thickly but followed the instructions without complaint. “Okay. Okay…all good”

“Do you know what you’re doing?” Luther asked.

“Of course” Diego rolled his eyes and shot him a glare, “Police academy, remember?”

He inhaled shakily and then pressed down rhythmically as he counted under his breath, his eyebrows knitted together tensely with focus. Vanya could feel something on her cheeks, and when she reached up to touch them, her fingers came away wet with tears. There was a choked sob to her left and she glanced up dazedly; Klaus was stood there looking wild and panicked, his fingers tangled in his hair and eyes watery.

There was a sickening crack of a rib and Diego winced as he faltered in his ministrations. “Sorry, buddy, so sorry”

“Diego,” Allison said softly, one hand gently cradling Five’s head and the fingers of her other hand placed at his pulse point.

“Shit. Hang on” Diego cursed, adjusting his position slightly and pressing down more firmly than before, putting the weight of his body into it.

“Diego” Allison reached out a hand and placed it over his. “He’s not…”

“Shut up” He spat, continuing for a couple more minutes until the compressions dissolved into mere shaky trembling. He sucked in a wet breath as his body shuddered with the effort to remain composure, one hand twisted in the fabric of Five’s sweater vest and the other clawing at the floor. “He can’t die on us. Fuck. _Fuck”_

“It’s okay” Allison said, yet despite the words, her voice was thin and wobbly, her face twisted into an expression of grief that was mirrored on all their faces. Diego shuddered as a sob was ripped from his mouth, and with a careful amount of tenderness he curled his arms around Five and pulled him upright against his body; their brothers limp head falling to the side against the broad expanse of his chest.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen” Diego whispered, staring down at the small body gathered in his arms with blank eyes. Tears were running off his cheeks and dripping off his chin, leaving a wet trail in their wake that glittered in the light. “This isn’t right, we’ve got to do something”

Allison shuffled closer and pulled the two of them into an embrace, her chin resting on top of Diego’s head and their brother's body cocooned between them. “You did everything you could” She whispered softly, so quietly that it was barely audible.

“I don’t understand how this happened,” Luther said, his voice oddly hoarse. “He was okay earlier, I mean, he looked okay”

“He looked okay, but you know what he’s like” Allison said tightly. “We should have checked on him. Just because he looked okay doesn’t mean that was true. I should have…” She trailed off and tenderly swept the hair back off Five’s forehead with trembling fingers. 

Klaus squatted down and placed a hand on Allison’s shoulder, squeezing it comfortingly. 

“Can you…” Luther started, swallowing thickly. “Can you see him?”

Klaus glanced up slowly, casting his eyes across the room. “I mean, I can if I want to, but I don’t if I can I can quite yet, I wa-”

“It’s okay Klaus” Vanya spoke up. She swallowed down the lump in her throat and lowered herself down to the floor, wrapping her arms as much as she could around her four siblings huddled on the floor.

Allison was trembling with the effort to hold in her tears, while the muscles of Diego’s back were tense under her hand, although there was no mistaking the broken expression on his face. Klaus was openly crying now, a hand clutched around the dog tags hanging from his neck. And in the middle of it all, Five was unmoving in their arms. 

Without the seemingly permanent crease of stress between his eyebrows or the tense set of his jaw, it was the most serene she had ever seen him. It was easy to forget that with his biting words and his headstrong personality, that he was quite so small and vulnerable.

“If I hadn’t caused this mess he wouldn-” She continued.

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence” Klaus interrupted. He exhaled shakily and scrubbed a sleeve across his eyes.

Luther dropped down beside them, the floorboards protesting under his weight, and wrapped his arms around them all. He swallowed audibly, and none of them mentioned the glassiness of his eyes. 

“Surely this isn’t the end” Diego sniffed. “This _can’t_ be the end. Five saved us from the first apocalypse, and then the second. Surely we can save him this time”

“And do what?” Allison replied brokenly. “It’s not like we can bring him back to life”

Vanya froze as the image of Harlan’s unmoving body flashed into her mind.

Harlan; who was cold and wet as she dragged him from the lake.

Harlan; whose lips were blue from the lack of oxygen.

Harlan; who was brought back to life when she accidentally transferred her powers into his body.

“I can do something” She blurted out. She was aware that the others glanced up at her words, but her eyes remained fixed on Five’s pale face. “You know when I was telling you guys about how Harlan had drowned, but that I did something and managed to bring him back to life. I could try it again”

“But he nearly caused another apocalypse with your powers,” Luther said. “Harlan-”

“Isn’t Five” Diego finished, giving him a look. “And frankly, who knows how long he’s been out there, and the longer we wait the lower the chances of it succeeding”

Luther swallowed, looking at Five and then at Vanya in turn. He gave her a curt nod. “Okay, let’s try it”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
“Well, this certainly is an interesting development”

He heaved in a spluttering breath, his mind short-circuiting at the sudden slam of consciousness into his body. And despite the fact his brain felt like a jumbled mess of thoughts, his body had an unusual weightless sensation about it. All the aches and pains were gone, and in its place was a feeling of what he could only describe as buoyancy. It felt like he was both inhabiting his body and existing outside it at the same time.

He gingerly eased himself up onto his elbows, squinting up at the figure leaning over him. It was a girl around the same age as his physical body, with long hair framing her face and a wide brim sunhat perched upon her head. She frowned at him with a quizzical expression, as if she were puzzled by his mere existence.

“I would have thought that you’d end up, you know…” She gestured vaguely downwards with a tilt of her head.

“Where am…” He trailed off when he actually took note of his surroundings. He wasn’t at the ranch anymore, but instead he appeared to be in some sort of woodland, intercepted by a meandering gravel pathway that he was currently sprawled upon. To the left, the trees thinned out into open fields, while to the right they gradually thickened into denser vegetation.

“Where am I?” He repeated.

“That doesn’t matter” The girl said, offering a hand. He eyed it warily but nevertheless took it, allowing her to pull him up to his feet. He brushed the dust off his shorts with a frown. “I must admit, when I first saw you, I thought you were your brother. It’s been a while since he paid me a visit”

Five pulled his attention from the environment around him back to the girl. “Which brother?”

“That’s irrelevant”

Five bit back a retort and instead settled on giving her an irritated glare. “Well, who are you?”

“I created you” She said simply, and then gestured out at the surroundings with a splay of her hands. “In fact, I made all of this”

Five snorted and ran his hands through his hair, his fingers twisting in the strands. “Well this is it; I’ve officially gone mad. Dad mentioned that time travel would mess with my mind. One second I’m dying back at the ranch and the next I’m wherever the hell this is. I suppose the situation could be worse, I mean, I could be dead”

“Ah, well about that. You are dead” The girl said with a shrug of her shoulders, looking far too dispassionate for the current situation.

“Dead?” He froze and lifted his gaze to meet hers.

“As a doornail” She confirmed as she walked over to the side of the path, and it was only then that he noticed there was a bicycle leaning up against a tree. She swung a leg over and straddled the seat, reaching out to grip the handlebars. “Well, I must be off. Things to do. People to see”

“Wait!” He called, jogging to catch up with her. The girl slowed down and gave him a curious glance over her shoulder. “I…I don’t understand. I’m dead?” 

She sighed, looking very much like she’d rather be doing a multitude of other things than conversing with him. “You died of internal bleeding. As I said, I thought you’d go to the other place. But here you are; I guess your goodness counteracts your past deeds”

“Is this…heaven?” Five frowned, glancing around at the environment again. He definitely wasn’t a religious person, but if he were to believe in the whole heaven and hell debate, he was certain that he would have ended up in the latter.

“If you want it to be” The girl said. “But seriously, I need to get going. If you have any other pressing questions, well, just keep them to yourself. The less you know about this place the easier it is to comprehend”

“Hang on. Wait! I don’t want to die”

The girl regarded him coolly. “I’m afraid to say that there’s nothing you can do. You’re dead, I can’t do much about it”

“Please” He stressed, even though the sheer action of begging physically pained him. “I’m not ready to die yet; I need to be there to make sure my family gets home. You can bring me back here after. All I need is to make sure they get back to 2019 safely, I can’t leave without knowing”

The girl sighed, plucking a sunflower from her basket and inspecting the sunshine-yellow petals. “What is it with your family and begging to go back? It seems like all you Hargreeves do is cheat death”

“Look, I’m bargaining with you here” He moved to stand in front of her so she couldn’t cycle off. “I’m fine with dying, but I need to go back to get them home. Just kill me off once I get them back to 2019, heck, I’ll even kill myself if that’s what it will take”

“You’re bargaining with me” She laughed, lifting an eyebrow with amusement. “My, you’re pretty ballsy aren’t you”

“Just consider what I-” His sentence was cut off abruptly by a sudden full-body wave of pain, almost like he’d been hit by a car. His torso was screaming at him and his lungs were burning, his mouth immediately filled with the overwhelming taste of blood. He let out a strangled cry and doubled over, wrapping his arms protectively around his middle.

“You’re full of surprises, aren’t you” The girl commented, “Well, it seems like you got your wish. Looks like you aren’t quite ready to die yet”

“Is this…” He gasped out a wheezing breath as another wave of pain hit him. “Is t-this your…doing?”

“Me?” She hummed thoughtfully, gesturing at her herself. “Certainly not. This is an outside influence”

He opened his mouth to reply when his whole body shuddered, his heart jumping erratically within his ribcage and his vision rapidly tunnelling.

“Well, au revoir” The girl said, and then the world fell black.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
Vanya recoiled when she felt the body underneath her do a shuddering and wet inhale, and her gaze immediately locking on her brother’s face as she wiped a sleeve across her mouth. His eyes were still shut, and his face was twisted in pain. But he was alive. He was _actually_ alive.

“Oh god,” Allison exclaimed, looking just as startled as the rest of them. “Holy shit. That actually worked?”

“Five” Diego hissed, reaching over and gently cupping his face in his hands, “Hey Five, come on, open your eyes. What’s wrong? What’s happening? Talk to me"

Five merely spluttered wetly in response, spraying more speckles of blood across his lips. He groaned, lethargically clawing at the collar of his shirt as he inhaled, his breathing uncomfortably wet and strained.

“Hang on, hang on” Diego murmured, reached up and trying to navigate the button and tie, which was easier said than done when Five didn’t seem to comprehend that he was trying to help him. Luther shouldered his way in and grasped the shirt in his hands, ripping the fabric as easily as tearing a tissue.

“What the hell?” Klaus blanched, covering a hand over his mouth, and Vanya was inclined to agree. There was a wound on his lower abdomen that was openly bleeding through some gauze, but more alarmingly, there was a large area of pigmented skin on his chest in a shade of purple that was so dark it was almost black.

“Is that…a bruise? Allison said uncertainly. 

“Internal bleeding” Diego corrected, sucking in a shaky breath through his teeth. “Jesus no wonder he’s struggling to breathe, looks like it’s coming from his lungs”

“How did it happen?” Luther frowned. “And those small bruises look like gunshot marks, but there are no entry holes?”

“Fucks knows. But what I do know is that we need to get him to a hospital quickly” Diego said. “Sissy has a car, right Vanya? She wouldn’t mind if we take it”

“And what will we say when we turn up with him, huh?” Allison said.

“We’ll deal with that when we get there. The main thing is that we get him some help”

Their muttering was interrupted by a sudden flash of piercing blue, followed swiftly by the sound of space being torn. “Hello again! So we’ve managed to sort out a cleanup crew and…oh dear…” 

Vanya eyed the pair standing in the previously empty space. Herb and Dot, she was fairly certain their names were. She wasn’t that familiar with them, but both Diego and Five seemed to trust them, even if they were from the Commission. If she was being honest, she’d forgotten they’d left to organise a crew to deal with the bodies scattered across the farm.

“Oh dear, oh dear” Herb repeated, stepping over some rubble and squatting down to peer down at Five. “Oh my, he’s not looking so good”

“Herb” Diego started, turning to face the man. “You know we’re good pals, right?”

“Well-”

“And now that you’re in charge of the Commission and The Handler’s dead, there’s no one there that’s out to get him, right?”

“But-”

“Come on Herb” Diego shot him a desperate look. “Do us a favour; you guys do stuff with bodies, modifications and shit, right? You can sort this out and patch him up real good. Anything for a Hargreeves”

Herb sighed, glancing over his shoulder at Dot whose eyes remained fixed on the spluttering form of Five half cradled across Allison’s lap. He sighed and hoisted the briefcase back up into his arms. “Okay, I mean I can’t promise anything. But we’ll do what we can and let you know the outcome”

“Whoa” Diego reached out and settled a hand on Herb’s shoulder, raising an eyebrow. “Did you really think we’d leave him alone? We come as a package deal”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
Allison hadn’t been quite sure what to expect when they appeared at the Commission, but it was oddly… _corporate_. That was the best way she could describe it; corporate. The building was vaguely art deco in appearance, a cold austere building reminiscent of a town hall, with its white marble and classical features. They stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the sea of steel blue suits in their blood-smeared clothes. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair, frowning when her fingers snagged on some hay.

“I was expecting something a little more” Klaus paused thoughtfully, glancing up and down the corridor, “Hellish. You know, somewhere with chains and torture chambers”

“It isn’t a Medieval dungeon, ya know” Diego commented from where he was draped across a chair.

“I know that. It’s just they all look rather normal for assassins” Klaus said, and Allison was rather inclined to agree. The people walking past looked more like the sort of people that would work at a bank, or a library; they had a slightly mousy air about them. But then again looks could be deceiving.

“They’re the timeline workers,” Diego said. “They’re the ones who figure out the person to kill, you know, the probabilities and shit like that. The field workers don’t really come in here, but if you see them they’re usually in black suits and have briefcases”

Allison raised an eyebrow.

“What?” Diego huffed indignantly, “I made it thought about 10 minutes of orientation”

“So Five was a field worker then? A time assassin person?” Klaus asked.

“I think so” Diego nodded. At the mention of her brother’s name, Allison pursed her lips with worry and glanced back at the door across from them. Moments after appearing in the building Herb had quickly ushered Luther, who was cradling a pale and raspy Five in his arms, through to the door to what they were told was the medical bay. She swallowed thickly and shifted in the uncomfortable office chair. At least Dot had taken pity on them and provided them with some seating while they waited.

“Although he did probabilities too. He had all those equations on his wall” Vanya piped up.

“Who knows,” Diego said with a shrug. “The little fucker hasn’t really opened up about his time here”

“But then again, we haven’t really asked either” Klaus said.

The door squeaked open and Luther awkwardly shuffled out, followed swiftly by Herb, and Allison couldn’t help but smile slightly at the size difference of the pair. They stuck out like a sore thumb, but Luther took it to a whole new level given his sheer size, with the workers giving him wary glances as they walked past.

“Is he okay?” Diego asked immediately, pushing himself up straighter. Herb glanced up at Luther, who was still looking a little shellshocked, before adjusting the labels of his blazer and giving them a look that was half a smile, and half a grimace.

“He’s stable” Herb answered. “But you have to be aware that he was clinically dead for an unknown amount of time prior to you finding him, so we’re going to have to keep a close eye on him. The surgeons have asked for some privacy while they repair the damage to his lungs, and then it’s looking like it’s just a case of waiting until he wakes up”

“How long will he be out for?” Diego pressed.

“I’m not sure I’m afraid. It depends on how his body responds” Herb said, lips pressed into a thin line.

Diego sighed, slumping back down in the chair and staring blankly at the stark wall opposite. “Fucking hell. It’s just one thing after another”

“But rest be assured that the team here are the best of the best, so he’s in good hands” Herb said, shuffling over and patting him on the shoulder as if they were old friends. “And I do remember him quite a resilient man, I believe there was an incident when he was stabbed on a job in Birmingham and he was back to work in two days. He’s kind of known for being a tough cookie, probably why he was The Handler’s favourite”

Allison supposed that it was meant to be comforting, but it just made her feel oddly empty. Herb knew more about her brother than his own family did. They really needed to rectify that, and that was if Five recover-

No.

She wasn’t even going to think it.

He would recover. He always recovered.

“He’ll be fine” Came a quiet voice, and she glanced to the side to see Vanya leaning across the space between their chairs. “This is Five, he’ll be back to normal in no time”

“I hope so” Allison breathed.

“Given the situation I’m sure that we can organise somewhere for you to stay” Herb continued, breaking her out of her thoughts. “We have lodgings in the housing building for the agents, although there are single rooms. However, given the…uhhh… _circumstances_ surrounding the board of Commission, there are rooms that are used for their lodgings during their stays here. They’re split into three four-bedroom suites”

Allison wasn’t quite sure what to make of his tone during that statement, and she had the distinct feeling that she was missing out on a bit of information. Diego, however, merely gave a slight wince at his words. “They’re really gone then, huh?”

“Every single one of them,” Herb said, chuckling awkwardly. “I believe that the cleanup crew had quite a task, it’s quite alarming the amount of blood that one body can contain, and let me tell you, getting blood out of carpet is no easy feat. But anyway, I digress. You are more than welcome to stay here while Number Five recuperates. As I said previously, the suites are four bedroom and-”

“Are they double beds?” Allison asked, and upon Herb's nod, added, “Vanya and I can share a bed. That way we can all be in one suite, only if that’s okay with you of course?”

“Yeah, that’s fine. I’d rather us stay together anyway” Vanya said, giving a little shrug, and Klaus nodded in agreement, “No offence Herbie, but I want to stick with them, I’m scared I’ll be murdered in my sleep or something”

“Oh I wouldn’t worry about that, you Hargreeves are kind of celebrities here. And now that The Handler’s gone, well, she was the only person who had a problem with you lot” Herb waved a hand. “If you follow me I’ll take you to your room, and there’s a bathroom as well for you to freshen up in. I can sort out some clothes to be sent to you too, I’m sure that anything would be better than what you’re currently wearing”

“Thank you,” Allison said, giving him a small but genuine smile. She had to admit that she was rather apprehensive about being at the Commission, but Herb seemed pleasant enough, and he had kind enough to sort out the whole Swede issue for Raymond. “We really do appreciate it”

“Anything for a Hargreeves” He said, echoing Diego’s words from earlier.

The room Herb supplied them with turned out to be something like a small apartment, rather than the motel-like space she was anticipating. There was a small seating area with an adjoining kitchenette, a bathroom large enough for both a shower and a bath, as well as four bedrooms containing double beds. Everything was white and clean, if not having a slightly clinical feel to it.

“This isn’t half bad” Luther commented as peeled off his coat and draped it gingerly over the back of a chair, a few flakes of mud falling down onto the carpet. Allison tutted and carefully removed her shoes, leaving them by the door. She couldn’t wait to wash away the grime from both her skin and hair.

“Is this the pneumatic tube thingy?” Klaus piped up, and Allison turned around just in time to see him sticking his hand up it. “Klaus!”

“What?” He said, pulling it out sheepishly.

“Jesus Christ” She muttered under her breath, dealing with her siblings was like herding cats. “Don’t stick anything up there, it’ll get stuck. But yes, that’s the pneumatic tube, we should get a message once Five’s out of surgery”

Klaus’ eyebrows drew together, and he sucked in a shaky breath. He looked at that very moment like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. “Do you think he’ll be okay?” He asked softly.

“He’ll be fine” Luther answered, already raiding the minifridge for a drink. He pulled out a carton of milk and retrieved a glass from the cupboard overhead. “He’s Five, he’ll bounce back”

“But what if he doesn’t?” Klaus continued in a measured voice. “I…I know I should try and see him, see if he’s…”

“You don’t have to do anything” Diego interrupted, forgoing the glass and taking a swig from the carton. He wiped a hand across his mouth and placed the carton back on the side with a sigh. There was a kind of blank emptiness on his face that made Allison’s stomach twist uncomfortably. “I wish this was something stronger, do you think the Commission has a bar?"

“Diego?” Allison said softly. “Are you okay?”

Diego looked up at her, his eyes glassy and face unreadable. His fingers, curled around the carton, tightened briefly. “Yeah…I’m good. I just…It was scary, you know, to see him like that”

“Weren’t you the one that was telling me he’d be fine earlier” Klaus commented, leaning back against the cupboards beside Diego and squeezing his shoulder.

“I know” Diego heaved a sigh that made him both look and sound much older than his years. “I think I’m just persuading myself. I just can’t get his face out of my mind, I mean if Vanya wasn’t there, he’d probably be dead”

Klaus exhaled and ran a hand through his hair. “This whole situation is fucked up”

“Damn” Luther nudged him with his elbow. “Must mean it’s fucked up if you of all people say it is”

Klaus snorted, and although his eyes were watery, there was a small smile on his face.

“How about we stop this little moping fest and check out the facilities here. I mean I don’t know about you, but I could do with something to eat” Allison said, and then gave them a softer look. “And I know that Five would kick our asses if he knew we were worrying over him. Herb said that he would contact us when he was out of surgery”

“I could eat some pancakes” Klaus murmured, shrugging.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
A loud metallic thump awoke him from his slumber, and Diego groaned with annoyance as he peeled his eyelids apart, giving a quick glance to the clock sat on the bedside table. 7:32am. It wasn’t particularly early, but after the events of Dallas, he could still feel the fogginess of exhaustion clouding his mind.

“Diegooo!” Came Klaus’ shrill voice, slightly muffled through the closed bedroom door. “Get your ass out of bed, we’ve got a message”

“Coming!” He shouted back as he grabbed some pyjama trousers and tugging them on, shouldering the door open. The others were in a similar state of disarray, with the exception of Klaus who had clearly just had a shower and was clad only in a ridiculously tiny towel.

“Fucking hell, put some clothes on” He muttered, stifling a yawn.

“Says you” Klaus raised an eyebrow, jerking his head towards his chest as he tried to pry the lid off the pneumatic tube container. Diego rolled his eyes. “I’ll have you know I sleep nude, I could have just come out-”

“You’re children” Allison muttered, grabbing the container out of Klaus’ hands and twisting the lid off with ease. She pulled out the paper within and unrolled it, eyebrows furrowed as she read.

“What’s it say?” Diego pressed,

“Five’s been out of surgery for a few hours now, it says that he’s stable. But they don’t recommend we visit until he’s moved out of the trauma ward. He’d lost a lot of blood, but they did a transfusion. But Herb has requested that we make our way to the…Infinite Switchboard?” She frowned with puzzlement and glanced up at him. “It says that you’ll know where the room is”

Diego reached out and plucked the paper from her hands. “Huh, I mean yeah, I know where it is. But it doesn’t say why he wants us to go there”

“What happens at the Infinite Switchboard?” Luther questioned.

“It’s kind of like a tracking system. They use it to monitor changes to the timeline and make sure everything stays on track. I mean that was how I knew about the whole thing with the CIA building and you” He said, gesturing at Vanya.

“Do you think it has something to do with our timeline?” She asked. “Or rather, the 2019 timeline. Or whatever timeline it is. I don’t know how Five keeps track of all this”

“Only one way to find out, huh” Diego said, raising an eyebrow. 


	2. The Oath-River

“So this is the same timeline that we’re in now, but back in the past?” Allison asked.

“Yes and no” Herb answered ambiguously, engrossed with twisting and turning a variety of dials on the switchboard, the monitor in front of them fizzling with a multitude of lights at the action. “Long story short, the Commission exists in a suspended version of the present timeline, a timeline that exists separately from the main one”

“That’s…” Allison searched for the word. “Confusing” She settled on eventually.

“Think of it as a tree, with the trunk being the main timeline and the branches being smaller timelines that fork off at different points of the main one. Eventually, those smaller timelines will trickle off into nothing. But sometimes those timelines continue, and it’s up to us to intervene and end that timeline, usually through the death of the person that is maintaining it. Corrections, we call it. Number Five was part of that team during his time here; the timeline workers would determine the individual with the highest probability of interfering with our purposes, and then the corrections agents would go out and solve the issue”

They nodded, although if they were being honest, they were even more confused than they were to begin with.

“Aha, here we go. This is what I wanted to show you” Herb said, gesturing at the monitor with a flourish, and the others leant in closer to see what was being displayed on the glassy screen.

“Oh, this is the barn, right?” Vanya said.

“Indeed it is” Herb nodded, and they watched as the barn scene played out in front of them. It was strange to be watching everything unfold in front of them; it felt rather like they were watching some sort of bizarre television show. “So I thought that given Number Five’s mysterious injuries that I would have a quick look at the switchboard to determine the cause of them, and well…”

He trailed off, and the other’s fell silent with anticipation. The screen was showing Diego and Lila facing each other, deep in conversation, while the rest of them were scattered around the pair. The scene continued, Diego leaning in closer and Lila looking up at him with wide glassy eyes, and then the screen glitched abruptly, nothing more than a brief flash of static before the scene continued as usual. 

“What was that?” Allison asked.

“An anomaly” Herb answered. He adjusted a dial and pressed a yellow button next to it. “Watch it more closely, and keep an eye on Number Five”

The screen fizzled back into life, showing the same events they watched only seconds prior. This time they kept their eyes on Five, located just behind Lila with knees bent and hands clenched ready for a fight. The screen glitched again, the same way it did earlier, only Five was no longer standing behind Lila, but was instead by the barn door and patting down his torso with panic.

“What’s he...” Diego trailed off when The Handler burst into the barn, and Five easily disarmed her and hauled the firearm up into his grip, aiming it at her forehead with practised ease. Herb sighed and reached across the switchboard to press a button, and the unfolding scene froze just as the remaining Swede had burst into the barn, gun aimed at The Handler.

“I don’t understand,” Luther said, voicing all of their thoughts. “I mean, it looked like he blinked, but there wasn’t the usual light that his powers have. And we would have noticed if he’d done that”

“He didn’t spatial jump,” Herb said. “I mean, this is just a theory, but I believe that Number Five might have rewound time at that moment. The Infinite Switchboard is good, but it can’t process situations like that. All we have is a glitch on the recording, and an anomaly warning on the corresponding tracker for raised carbon levels”

“That can’t be right,” Diego said. “I mean Five doesn’t have a good track record with time travel. We would have noticed if something like that happened”

“There’s more” Herb interrupted. “His lung was punctured due to what looked like numerous bullet wounds, the size of which matched the bullets used by the gun The Handler was using on that day. I’m thinking that he was shot and then rewound time, but this time was able to predict The Handler’s movements and stop her before she shot him in the first place”

“That can’t be right” Allison muttered with disbelief.

“As I said before, this is just a theory. But it’s looking like that’s what’s happened” Herb said. “Judging by your confusion it seems like this might be the first time he's done something like this, which might explain why his body didn’t fully heal from the gunshot wounds. He was put on the spot and managed to rewind time, but-”

“Thing’s went a bit wonky and he didn’t manage to heal himself fully” Klaus finished. He let out a little humourless chuckle and rocked back on his heels, “Fucking hell, this is crazy! Why wouldn’t Five say something to us?”

“He’s Five,” Vanya said, giving him a look. “You know how he is, there’s no way he’d tell us he’d been shot”

“I mean he didn’t tell us he was hit by shrapnel” Allison said, and upon seeing confused glances from everyone excluding Diego, muttered out a dismissive, “I’ll explain later”

“Once he’s awake we’re going to have to sit down and actually talk about this. I mean this is big. Five? Rewinding time? He hasn’t done anything like this before” Deigo commented. “Or maybe he has, goodness knows. We don’t exactly talk about things in this family do we?”

“But then again, we aren’t exactly a normal family” Allison chuckled. “I swear to god if Five wasn’t injured, it’d smack him for pulling off that stunt and not telling us”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
“Still asleep?”

Allison startled and glanced up at the door to see Diego leaning against it nonchalantly. He was wearing some black combat clothes and his hair pulled back off his face into a low ponytail, his arms crossed in front of him. His eyes, however, were uncharacteristically soft as he inspected Five tucked under the thin white bedsheet.

“Still asleep” Allison confirmed as she paused in her ministrations of brushing her fingers through Five’s hair. She brushed a thumb across his cheekbone, careful not to disturb the nasal cannula stuck to his face with medical tape.

“Good thing he is otherwise he’d bite your hand off for that” Diego commented.

She couldn’t help but feel her chest tighten with worry at the sight of him. She knew he hated being reminded of his physical age; but now, laying on the clinical hospital bed and occasionally twitching in his sleep, he looked so very young. But she was glad that he was finally out of the trauma ward, and just in a regular medical room.

“It’s strange to see him so small” She said with a frown.

Diego sighed and perched himself on the end of the bed gingerly. “He’s always been small”

“You know what I mean” She rolled her eyes. 

They fell silent when Five mumbled out an incoherent noise, his eyebrows pinching together briefly before smoothing back out, still out to this world. Allison’s gaze slid over to the IV bag hanging from the stand adjacent to his bed. A lot of the medical jargon went over her head, but she knew that’d put some sort of nutrition replacement and pain relief in there.

“I keep thinking about what that Doctor said” Diego said quietly, breaking her out of her trance. “About the fact that there might be some lasting effects”

Allison readjusted her position on the chair she’d been sat on for the past four hours as she though. She had to admit the whole ‘lasting effects’ situation was the elephant in the room. They didn’t know how long Five had been… _dead_ …before Klaus found him. She’d been reading up about it, that full recovery of the brain after more than three minutes was rare. The only thing going in his favour was the fact it was freezing on the ranch, which would have delayed things a bit.

But there was still a chance that when he awoke, _if he awoke,_ he would be different from the Five he was before.

She gently smoothed his hair back off his face, relishing the warmth of his skin under her hand and willing the anxiety she could feel building to ease.

Five was brash and testy and confrontational, but he was also extremely protective and stupidly selfless. And he was, most importantly, her brother. And she loved him, quirks and all. Even if the majority of those quirks were emotional trauma, but that was another issue for another time.

“He’ll be okay” She said eventually.

Diego nodded stiffly and stretched back up to his feet slowly. “It’s my shift next, right? I’ll just go freshen up; I shouldn’t be too long”

“It’s fine, don’t rush” She replied, giving him a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.  
  
  


* * *

 **  
  
**“Hey Dot” Klaus greeted, making the others glance up. They were currently sat around one of the many lunch tables in the cafeteria, which was surreal in itself. Apparently it was Polynesian day and lunch was lau lau; it was strange to think that the Commission had themed lunches, it seemed oddly mundane for an organisation with such a bloody history.

“Good Afternoon,” Dot said as she shifted nervously on the spot, the heels of her shoes tapping against the polished floor. “I’m afraid I might need your assistance”

“What for?” Diego asked, shoving another piece of sweet potato in his mouth.

“Number Five has awoken” She answered, giving a little grimace. “Now I am not an expert on your powers, but I wasn’t aware that Number Five could…well…create forcefields”

“Fuck” Diego hissed, and the others were rather inclined to agree.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
“I mean things could be worse” Klaus commented mildly.

Allison shot him an incredulous look from where she was trying to peer into the room where Five was, which was easier said than done when the wind around them was threatening to knock them sideways. “How could this be worse?”

“The moon hasn’t blown up yet,” Klaus said with a shrug, looking far too relaxed given the circumstances. Vanya envied his ability to remain calm in any given situation, especially considering that her heart was thumping so hard within her ribcage that she was surprised she hadn’t had a heart attack.

“Think you can do this?” Diego said, squeezing her shoulder.

She swallowed down the lump in her throat and nodded, clenching her hands into fists and sucking in a shaky mouthful of air through her teeth. It panicked her, to be using her powers so freely, but her family were relying on her to diffuse the situation. She could feel the moment the energy flowed through her veins, building in her chest with a kind of intensity that left her feeling breathless.

“I can do this,” She said after a few moments, and Diego gave her a tight nod back.

She stepped through the threshold of the room, slipping easily through the spinning array of lights and soundwaves that were currently whirling around them. She needed to tread carefully here, thankfully Harlan was too shocked to do anything other than create a small forcefield, but Five was stronger and more emotionally unstable, she didn’t want to do anything that would cause another doomsday.

“Five?” She called gently, frowning when she found that the hospital bed was empty. The sheets were rumbled and the IV drip was discarded upon them, a blooming patch of wetness spreading from the exposed needle. “Five, it’s me, Vanya. You’re okay”

She ventured around the bed and exhaled in relief when she found him huddled in the corner, knee’s drawn up against his chest and face hidden in his arms. She knelt down and laid a hand on his shoulder, immediately pushing herself away and placing her hands up placatingly when he jumped at her touch.

“Hey, it’s okay” She whispered, giving him what she hoped was a reassuring smile.

He looked absolutely awful, with his bloodshot eyes and alarmingly pale face, his chest heaving with panicked breaths. He clenched his hands into tight fists, the space around them rippling blue, before his gaze landed on her face and recognition hit. “Vanya?”

“Yeah, that’s me” She said, shuffling closer so she was crouched in front of him.

“What’s happening?” He asked, and she couldn’t help but frown at the way his words sounded oddly stilted. But he had been asleep for a good four days, his throat probably felt like sandpaper at this point. “Why am I here?” He added, almost frantically.

Vanya couldn’t help but feel like the world’s worst sister as realisation hit, they should have stayed with him. Of course he wasn’t going to take the news that he was back at the Commission lightly, while she wasn’t entirely certain on what happened to him while he was here, she was sure it wasn’t pleasant. “How much do you remember?”

He glanced around the room, eyes wide and on guard, and Vanya could feel the wind around them quicken at his rising panic. She nodded to herself and placed her hands back out in front of her, curling her fingers gently and calling on the powers still thrumming faintly within her chest. “Okay, stay calm. I’m just going to…”

She trailed off and pulled at the energy that was still rippling around them in shimmering waves, closing her eyes with focus. She heard Five make a little noise as she pulled, but she couldn’t stop now, not when the wind was slowly dying down into a gentle breeze that trailed off into nothing.

And thankfully when she opened her eyes, Five was unharmed. Still confused and on the verge of hyperventilating, but at least there wasn’t a risk of him accidentally doing damage with her powers.

“Wha-” He started.

“Five!” Klaus all but stumbled into the room, flanked shortly by the others who were still looking rather windswept. He knelt down beside Vanya and cast a critical eye over their brother. “What the hell are you doing out of bed baby bro?”

“Older than you” Five replied out of habit, and Vanya saw Klaus glance at her questionably. Vanya shrugged and glanced around the room, eyes falling on the glass of water by the bedside. It was half drunk and probably a day old, but it was better than nothing. She passed it over and Five immediately grasped it, sipping at it delicately.

“Why are we at the Com..." He paused and mouthed the word to himself a few times, before continuing, "Commission?"  
  
“What do you remember?” Allison asked as she took the glass from him and set it down. She slid an arm under his and slowly moved him back up to his feet. Alongside Diego, the two of them managed to manoeuvre back up onto the bed, with Klaus readjusting the sheets back over him.

“Not much,” Five said, glancing down at his outstretched legs as if he were confused as to how he got back up there. “Wait. The Handler? Where is she?”

“She’s dead,” Luther said gently. “The Swede killed her, remember? Long story short, Herb agreed to take you here to patch you up, we’ve been here for four days”

Five closed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair, wincing when the movement of his arm pulled at the stitches across his chest. “Injuries?”

“Why is he talking like that?” Klaus asked, eyebrows furrowed with both confusion and concern.

“Injuries?” Five pressed, opening his eyes to peer at them from under his ruffled fringe. 

“Internal bleeding, a punctured lung, a multitude of smaller cuts, and a cracked rib” Diego said, and then added. “The rib was me though, I was a bit aggressive with the CPR”

“Oh,” Five said, blinking up at him “Thanks”

“Don’t thank me, it was all Vanya” Diego waved a hand, and Vanya flushed when all eyes turned to her “She did something weird with her powers and zapped some life back into you. Like some sort of human defibrillator”

“It was nothing, honestly” She waved a hand. “I’m just glad you’re okay. How are you feeling?”

“I’m tired, but okay. Need notepad though. And a pen”

“What you need is rest,” Allison said with a purse of her lips as she gently pushing him back against the cushions. “You’re not going to be doing your equations. I mean you nearly died of internal bleeding, for goodness sake! You’re going to sleep it off and we’ll get a doctor to check you over, and then we all need to sit down and talk about the fact that you were injured without us knowing in the first place”

“No doctor” He said with a glare, although the ferocity of it was dampened by the fact his eyelids were already drooping.

“Shut it,” She rebutted, rolling her eyes. “You are going to lay there and actually rest for once. There’s no apocalypse to stop and there’s no crap to deal with. So just close your eyes and snooze while I get a doctor. And I swear to god if I come back and you’ve moved from this spot-”

“Got the point” He interrupted, “But I’m fine”

“Your definition of fine is vastly different to mine” Allison muttered as she stood up and smoothed down the skirt of her dress. He shot them all a look over her shoulder and she walked out the door, "Keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't move"  
  
  


* * *

  
  
“So this is temporary?” Allison asked.

“It’s difficult to say” The doctor paused and glanced up at them from over the rim of her glasses, “But I believe so, yes. Dysarthria isn’t uncommon after a traumatic brain injury.”

“Dysarthria?” Klaus questioned, saying the word slowly. “Is that why he sounds like he’s drunk?”

“Klaus” Allison hissed.

“What?” He exclaimed, “It’s true. He sounds like he's had a few too many"

The doctor sighed, looking very much like she’d rather be in a multitude of places other than here. “In basic terms, the brain can find it difficult to use the muscles involved in speaking, which can lead to slurred speech, clipped sentences, and difficulty recalling words, as well as issues involving the tone and volume of the voice. With regular use the brain will repair those pathways, and everything should return to normal. There might also be an issue with dyspraxia of speech, which can lead to there being a delay within conversations”

“And walking? The wobbliness?” Five asked, and then added, “My ears are hurting too”

“They are?” The doctor paused thoughtfully before reaching for her notepad and jotting something down. “We’ll sort out some stronger pain relief from tomorrow. But that would be from vertigo, it usually lasts up to a week following head injuries. The pain in your ears will be from leakage of the fluid in the middle cavity, which will go away naturally with rest”

“You hear that Five?” Klaus raised his eyebrows expectantly. “Rest. Do you know what that means? Means you can't leave the bed”

“Like that will stop me” Five muttered under his breath.

“But apart from that, everything seems to be okay” The doctor continued, pulling a small container from her pocket and uncapping the lid, tapping out a couple of tablets onto the bedside table beside the glass of water. “Your blood pressure is slightly elevated, but not to worrying amounts. And there is no evidence of infection along the incision sites. With plenty of best rest and regular check-ups, you should make a full recovery”

“Great” Five tossed the painkillers into his mouth and crunched them dry. Allison raised an eyebrow and with a sigh he reached for the water, swallowing a mouthful. “The sooner we get out. The better”

The doctor paused and gave him a look.

“No offence” He added hastily.

The doctor nodded tightly, lips pressed into a firm line as she rose from the chair and collected her paperwork. “Don’t hesitate to alert us if you need anything, or if there is any trouble” She said as she pulled the door shut behind her.

“Isn’t she a delight” Luther muttered.

“Kind of reminds me dear old papa” Klaus agreed. He threw himself down into the armchair with an exaggerated sigh. “The people here are scary. They freak me out, especially the doctors”

“I never liked them” Five commented. He was thrumming his fingers against the glass in his hand, glancing around the room. Vanya couldn’t help but feel slightly sad at the way that he was desperately trying to conceal his anxiousness. It seemed like even though the treat of The Handler had gone, he was still antsy about being here. “I need to do my calculations”

“No,” Allison said simply. “We’re not having this conversation again. You heard her, you need to rest”

“I need to make sure that the prababili…prob…” He trailed off, a look of frustration on his face. Instead, he sighed and gestured broadly with his hands. “That everything is okay”

“With the probabilities?” Klaus questioned.

“Yes, them” Five nodded, giving him an appreciative glance. “That everything will be okay when we get back”

“Why wouldn’t it be?” Luther furrowed his eyebrows with confusion, looking at the others is if there was something he hadn’t quite understood. “I mean we prevented the apocalypse, and The Handler’s gone. What else would there be?”

“Butterfly effect” Five replied. “That us in Dallas hasn’t caused problems. Need to do the calculations and-”

“I’m pretty sure all this thinking isn’t good for your head” Vanya commented. And from beside her, Allison nodded in agreement. “Exactly, you need to lay back and rest”

“I can rest and do math” He said stubbornly.

“No math” Allison said with a sense of finality. “No calculations, no probabilities, no thinking. You’re going to lay there and let us handle things”

Five gave her a sour look. “Since when could you do complex math?”

“I’m going to let that remark slide because you’re grumpy and in pain” Allison sighed. She looked at the clock and then back at the others. “How about I sort us out some food, and we can all congregate in here and eat together. I’m sure Herb would allow that”

Klaus clapped his hands together with excitement. “Hell yeah, it’s Brazilian day isn’t it?”

“Yep, I think it’s moqueca on the menu” Luther answered.

“You’re getting too comfortable,” Five said. “It’s the Commission, need to be careful, not getting lunches”

“The Handler’s gone, and Herb’s in charge” Vanya reminded him gently. “And it’s not like we’re going to be staying here for long anyway. You heard the doctor, as soon as you’re feeling better we can go, and with the way things are going, we’ll probably be gone by the end of the week.  
  
  


* * *

Vanya was wrong.

A week flew by, and the same happened with the second. And before they knew it eighteen days had passed since they’d first arrived at Commission headquarters. They were naive to think that Five would simply bounce back from this ordeal like he usually did; internal bleeding was quite a big deal after all. Five, in his usual fashion, wasn’t particularly pleased with both the circumstances and the fact he’d been confined to bed rest.

“Focus,” Said Allison, jolting her thoughts back to the present.

“I don’t know if I can do this” She answered, her voice echoing off the sterile environment around her.

“You can, just keep breathing and focus on the noise”

“I’m going to hurt you”

“You won’t. You say this every time we do this, but so far you haven’t” Allison reassured, giving her an encouraging look from where she was standing on the other side of the training room. It was one of the smaller training rooms at the Commission; but Herb had been kind enough to allow them to practice in the space while Five recuperated, so she couldn’t be too choosy.

“Okay, just close your eyes and focus on the sound,” Allison said, raising the tuning fork back up in front of her. The whole session brought back painful memories of her father doing the same, watching her as if he were inspecting a specimen. Only this time it was Allison, her supportive and caring sister who was cheering her on from the side-lines.

She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, before letting the air flow out slowly from between her lips. She could feel the sound of her heart beating amplify in her ears, and when she heard Allison strike the tuning fork against the surface of the table in front of her, she let the noise wash over her body in a wave of energy.

She could feel the temperature of the room drop as the pressure in the chest started building.

“You’re doing so good,” Allison said softly, and Vanya couldn’t help but smile softly. She curled her fingers into fists and inhaled slowly, letting the breeze pick up into a fiercer wind that pulled at the loose strands of hair that had fallen from her ponytail.

“You’re better”

Vanya’s eyes shot open and the energy waves surrounding her body were abruptly pulled, the breeze in the air falling and leaving behind an eery sense of quietness that filled the room.

“Five,” Allison said, startled. “What are you doing here?”

“That’s me” Five replied, ignoring her question. He was leaning against the doorframe of the training room and watching them with interest, dressed in an unusual array of pyjama bottoms, a hoodie that swamped him, and Klaus' stolen slippers.

“You shouldn’t be up” Vanya frowned as she crossed the room, quickly giving him a once-over. He still looked far too frail and thin for her liking, but she was relieved to see that he looked better in himself, with the dazed glassiness of his eyes being replaced with their usual sharpness.

He snorted and glanced down the hall behind him. “I got bored”

“Isn’t Klaus supposed to be watching you?” Allison placed her hands on her lips, a mixture of exasperation and amusement on her face.

“He went for food” He shrugged. “I hate being watched”

“You know it’s for your own good, right?” Allison sighed.

“Don’t like it” He replied stubbornly.

“We’re watching you because we know what you’re like, any opportunity and you slip away. We need to get you one of those toddler reins. Either that or handcuff you to the bed” Vanya muttered, slipping an arm through his. “Come on, let's get back before Klaus freaks out. The poor guy will have an aneurysm if he comes back to find you missing”

Five heaved a sigh but obediently followed her, Vanya making sure to match his pace. She knew he hated being coddled or seen as weak, being the stupidly headstrong person that he was, so she tried to help in ways that still made him feel like he was in control. She never brought up the limp, or the stilted sentences; only offering an arm when he needed it.

“You’re better,” He said again, and it took her a few moments to figure out what he was referring to.

“You are” Allison agreed. Vanya shot her sister a smile, a spread of warm affection blooming in her chest.

“They’re letting me use the training room to help control my powers” She shrugged, giving him a smile. “I feel like it’s working, I want to go back to 2019 knowing that I won’t…well…blow up the moon again. I feel like two apocalypses are two too many”

“I used to train in that room” Five murmured, eyes fixed on the ground as they slowly made their way down the corridor. “Back when I was in my old body” 

“Do you miss it here?” Allison asked softly, pushing open the door to the medical wing and holding it open for them to pass through.

He scoffed noisily and rolled his eyes, making Vanya chuckle. “No. Not at all”

“Thank god” Klaus exhaled as they walked into the room. Five couldn’t help but feel a little guilty, with the way his brother’s eyes were slightly wide with panic. Luther and Diego were also there, looking just as worried, and the relief on their faces when they caught sight of him made his chest ache. “I literally left the room for thirty minutes and you decided to make a run for it. Everyone’s been panicking and looking for you”

“Sorry” He mumbled as he deposited himself down on the bed.

Klaus heaved a sigh and raked a hand through his hair. “It’s fine, as long as you’re okay. I mean it must suck to be cooped up in here all the time. Although I don't know why you ran away, I'll have you know that I'm wonderful company”

“Not sure about that” Five muttered under his breath, leaning back against the cushions and staring up at the ceiling. “I hate this. I hate it here”

“We’ll be back soon. We’re just staying here until you’re feeling strong enough” Allison reassured.

“I am strong enough,” He said, shooting her a glare. “I walked to you guys”

Allison raised an eyebrow, tempted to raise the fact that he was relying on Vanya as a crutch to keep him upright. Goodness knows how he even managed to get to the training rooms in the first place. “We need you to get better, we want you to be back to your usual self”

Five pulled a face that was a mixture of a grimace and acceptance. “I need to defend you” He nodded to himself.

“What? No!” Allison exclaimed, “We don’t want you to get better so you defend us, which is ridiculous in itself, because we can defend ourselves perfectly fine thank you very much. But we want you to get better because we care about you”

Five froze and looked remarkably like a deer in the headlights, eyes wide and alarmed. “Oh”

“Yeah, oh” Allison gave him a soft look, pulling up a chair by his bed and sitting down in it. “You can’t keep throwing yourself into dangerous situations for our sake”

“You die if I don’t”

“You should at least tell us about your plans first bro,” Diego said surprisingly gently. “Look, I know why you’re like this. You’ve been on your own for so long that you just don’t think to involve us in them too. Look, I get it”

Five glanced down at his lap sheepishly, Vanya reached out to squeeze his hand.

“But you’re not on your own any more, you don’t need to struggle by yourself” Diego continued.

“That’s pointless” Five murmured. “I can do it on my own. Only one person struggling then”

“We can struggle with you” Luther interjected. “We want to face things together as a family, that way we can share the burden. You shouldn’t be the only one who deals with the consequences of the situations we face”

Five sunk lower into his cocoon of blankets and pillows, looking conflicted, and Vanya couldn’t help herself. She moved forward so she was awkwardly sprawled across the bed, and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him against her.

“Vanya?” He piped up, voice muffled against her shoulder.

“Hmm?”

“What…What are you doing?”

She pulled back slightly to give him a surprised glance “It’s called a hug”

“I know that” He rolled his eyes. “But why?”

“Because you looked like you needed one” She murmured, shifting a little so she was sat more comfortably, and pulled him back into her embrace. It was strange, to be hugging him like this. Her mind couldn’t help but flash back to the barn, where he was cold and clammy under her touch. But unlike that time, he was warm and breathing. Alive. She could feel the exact moment that he relaxed, and seconds after she felt his arms come up to wrap around her back.  
  
“Thank you,” He said after a few moments. “First time you’ve hugged me. Since getting back”

“We hugged you back in the barn,” She said, and then added. “But you were…err…kinda dead. We should have given you one sooner, sorry about that”

“Oh what the hell, count me in” Was the warning they got before Klaus all but flung himself on the bed, pulling them both against his chest. He pressed a kiss to the top of their heads in turn, ignoring the grumbled complain Five let out at the action. “Come on guys, Hargreeves huddle!”

“No” Five whispered with horror, and Vanya stifled a laugh against Klaus’ shirt.

She felt someone else join in, Allison if the faint smell of perfume was anything to go by. And then there was another person to her left, adding a “We haven’t hugged like this since we were kids. Come on big boy, don’t be the last one out”

The bedframe gave out a pathetic groan as Luther gingerly joined in, enveloping them all easily within his arms. “If the bed gives out this is on you Diego”

“Who cares,” Diego said with a snort, and then reached into the huddle to ruffled Five’s hair. “I’m glad that you’re okay bro”

“Whatever” Five hissed like an angry cat, “Fuck off, I hate this. I hate hugs”

“You love them really,” Klaus said, the smile on his face evident in his voice. “And we know you love us really, deep down inside that angry little body of yours we know you have a heart”

“Shut up” Five grumbled. “But thank you, for looking after me I mean. I’ll sort his out”

“We’ll sort this out” Luther corrected. “And besides, we actually need to you rest for once, I’m being serious here. I mean you were shot for goodness sake”

Five froze, looking at them with alarm. “How did you know I was shot?”

“Let’s just say we had a play around on the Infinite Switchboard, which is pretty cool by the way” Klaus said.

“Great” Five muttered, wiggling his way out of their hug and flopping back against the cushions. “So you know-”

“About you rewinding time, yeah” Allison interrupted. “Which reminds me, we need to sit down and actually talk about what happened. Because I have an inkling that we’re not that clued up on the events of that whole situation. And if we're going to move forward together as a family, we really need to learn how to discuss things normally”

“Fantastic, another family discussion” Diego muttered the same time Klaus said, “I bet $10 that within five minutes we’ll all be fighting”

“Guys!” Allison exclaimed. “Seriously. We’re actually going to talk about our circumstances back in Dallas, and there will be no fighting involved because we’re adults and we can talk about things without it ending in a fistfight. And yes, I’m looking at you two”

Luther and Diego glanced at each other, thoroughly chastised. 

“Well, who wants to start?” She finished, she looked at each of them in turn before her eyes settled on Five. “How about you? And start from the beginning, we’ve got all the time in the world for once, might as well make the most of it"

"I'm not sure" He said. he couldn't think of anything worse than opening up to them if he was being honest. 

"It's fine you if you don't want to," Vanya said reassuringly, "But we would like it if you did. You are our brother after all, and we have quite a bit to catch up on" 

"I suppose we do" He mused, giving them a small smile, and then he opened his mouth to begin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for taking the time to read this, it means so much to me! I hope that you enjoyed it ❤️
> 
> You can find me on tumblr at: https://fudgemutt.tumblr.com/


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